Klaus Stimeder
Encyclopedia
Klaus Josef Stimeder, (* March 17, 1975 in Schaerding, Austria
) is an author and a journalist who lives in New York City
. In Germany
and Austria the former war correspondent became known as the founder and publisher of monthly policy magazine Datum
and for coauthoring the biography „Trotzdem. Die Oscar Bronner
Story “, which covers the life of the Austro-Jewish publishing icon.
as the only son of a lower-middle-class family (his father worked as a customs officer on the German-Austrian border, his mother as a shop assistant).
During his childhood and teenage years, Stimeders biggest influence was his late maternal uncle Franz Martin who had been living and studying in Salzburg
. In the seventies and eighties many contemporary Austrian artists and writers forgathered in Martins various apartments, whose works and lifestyles had a big impact on Stim (i.e. H. C. Artmann
, for whose readings Martin had been delivering the musical support for many years, Thomas Bernhard
, Peter Handke
and painter Kiki Kogelnik
). After graduating from high school he went on studying history, political science and English literature at Vienna University.
. During this spell there he specialized in war and disaster reporting, i.e. covering the war in Kosovo
, the conflict in Northern Ireland
and the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch
in Nicaragua
from the ground. At the beginning of 2000 Stimeder quit his job and went to New York to work at German weekly New Yorker Staats-Zeitung and later on as a free lance journalist.
During his first stint in New York Stimeder learned about the "Code of ethics“ of the New York Times and the work of her fact-checking-departments, which made a lasting impression on him. On the basis of these experiences he later wrote the first-ever "Code of ethics“ for a publication in Austria.
After Stimeder had returned to his native country in late 2000 he started out as a permanent contributor to the metro department at city weekly Falter
and the news-website DerStandard.at. During his spells there he continued to cover conflicts and/or their aftermaths all over the world (between 1998 and 2003 i.e. he covered the wars in Afghanistan
and Iraq
as well as the conflicts in Israel
and the Palestinian territories
and Sierra leone
from the ground for magazines, newspapers and agencys in mainly German-speaking countries.
After having completed an internship at the metro section of Berlin daily Tagesspiegel in the summer of 2002 he returned to "Format" as a staff reporter. During his second spell at the magazine an interview done by him and his colleague Stefan Kaltenbrunner with Salam Abdulmunem aka „Baghdad blogger“ Salam Pax
made international headlines.
After the owner had decided to transform the news magazine into an economy mag and the division between editorial and commercial content was no longer adhered to, Stimeder left “Format“ to become a staffer at the sports desk of daily “Der Standard“, where he specialised in covering domestic and foreign soccer.
At the end of 2003, while still working at “Der Standard“, Stimeder got acquainted with London-based financial consultant Johannes Weyringer, together with whom he decided to found a new monthly that was based on the editorial concepts of The New Yorker
and the German weeklys Die Zeit
and “Süddeutsche Zeitung
Magazin“. The first issue of “DATUM – Seiten der Zeit“ was presented to a selected audience in downtown Vienna
in May 2004.
As acting publisher and editor Stimeder was able to win over internationally renowned artists, authors, politicians and scientists as contributors to the magazine, i.e. artist and painter Günter Brus, EU commissioner Johannes Hahn
, actor Karl Markovics
, philosopher Franz Schuh
and quantum physicist Anton Zeilinger
.
Since its founding DATUM under Stimeder's publisher- and editorship won numerous international and national awards for its design as well as for its content. It was hailed as “International best news magazine“ by Monocle
and Wallpaper-founder Tyler Brûlé
in his “Fast lane“-column in the Financial Times
in 2005.In 2009 DATUM was named one of the “100 most innovative magazines in the world“ by members of a jury of Luxembourg
-based magazine symposium “Colophon“.
In October 2008 Stimeder published the biography “Trotzdem. Die Oscar Bronner Story“ (Ueberreuter
), a work he coauthored with award-winning journalist Eva Weissenberger. “Trotzdem“ covers the life of legendary Austro-Jewish publisher and artist (Bronner founded Austrian news magazine Profil
, economy magazine “trend“, daily “Der Standard“ and the news website “derStandard.at“. While sales remained modest, the book received great critical acclaim in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and the US, where it was presented in May 2009 at the Austrian Cultural Forum New York
by American journalism legend Carl Bernstein
and bestselling writer Frederic Morton
.
Since 2000 Stimeder has served as a guest lecturer at various universities, colleges and schools in Austria, Germany and the US (i.e. at the Department for Journalism and Media Management at Vienna College of Higher Education, at the Institute for Communication Sciences at Vienna University, at the German department of Northwestern University
and at the annual conferences of the German Studies Association
).
For his work with young journalists and aspiring writers at DATUM Stimeder was named “head of the best school for young writers in the country“ by Austrian journalism magazine “The journalist“ in 2008.
As publisher of DATUM by cooperating with Viennas' Rabenhof Theater from 2007 to 2009 Stimeder coinitiated a series of literary events (“DATUM presents“) during which’s course writers like Chuck Palahniuk
, Ian Rankin
, Sven Regener
, Juli Zeh
, FM Einheit of Einstürzende Neubauten
, Thomas Brussig
or Robert Menasse
took to the stage to do public readings. In 2007 Stimeder was a member of the jury of the Marlen Haushofer
-Preis, a prize which is given out to young writers by the Austrian city of Steyr.
In the summer of 2010 Stimeder sold his shares in DATUM to his partner and moved to New York City, where he now lives and works as a freelance journalist and as a writer of fiction and non-fiction under the name JM Stim.
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
) is an author and a journalist who lives in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. In Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Austria the former war correspondent became known as the founder and publisher of monthly policy magazine Datum
Datum (magazine)
Datum is an Austrian monthly magazine.Founded in 2004 by journalist Klaus Stimeder and businessman Hannes Weyringer, Datum is published by the Association to Promote Quality Journalism eleven times a year. The circulation is 10.000 copies...
and for coauthoring the biography „Trotzdem. Die Oscar Bronner
Oscar Bronner
Oscar Bronner, born 14 January 1943, is an Jewish Austrian newspaper publisher and painter.Bronner was born in Haifa, Israel the eldest son of Austrian cabaret artist Gerhard Bronner....
Story “, which covers the life of the Austro-Jewish publishing icon.
Personal
Stimeder grew up in the Upper Austrian village of Obernberg am InnObernberg am Inn
Obernberg am Inn is a municipality in the district of Ried im Innkreis in Upper Austria, Austria.-References:...
as the only son of a lower-middle-class family (his father worked as a customs officer on the German-Austrian border, his mother as a shop assistant).
During his childhood and teenage years, Stimeders biggest influence was his late maternal uncle Franz Martin who had been living and studying in Salzburg
Salzburg
-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...
. In the seventies and eighties many contemporary Austrian artists and writers forgathered in Martins various apartments, whose works and lifestyles had a big impact on Stim (i.e. H. C. Artmann
H. C. Artmann
Hans Carl Artmann , also known as Ib Hansen, was an Austria-born poet and writer, most popular for his early poems written in Viennese , which however never after were to be the focus of his oeuvre.-Life and work:Artmann was born in Vienna as the son of shoe...
, for whose readings Martin had been delivering the musical support for many years, Thomas Bernhard
Thomas Bernhard
Thomas Bernhard was an Austrian novelist, playwright and poet. Bernhard, whose body of work has been called "the most significant literary achievement since World War II," is widely considered to be one of the most important German-speaking authors of the postwar era.- Life :Thomas Bernhard was...
, Peter Handke
Peter Handke
Peter Handke is an avant-garde Austrian novelist and playwright.-Early life:Handke and his mother lived in the Soviet-occupied Pankow district of Berlin from 1944 to 1948 before resettling in Griffen...
and painter Kiki Kogelnik
Kiki Kogelnik
Kiki Kogelnik was an Austrian painter, sculptor and printmaker. Born in a small town in southern Austria, she studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and moved to New York in 1961....
). After graduating from high school he went on studying history, political science and English literature at Vienna University.
Career
In 1998 Stimeder started a career as a journalist at the foreign desk of news magazine "Format", which back then was conceived as the Austrian equivalent of NewsweekNewsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
. During this spell there he specialized in war and disaster reporting, i.e. covering the war in Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
, the conflict in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
and the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch
Hurricane Mitch
Hurricane Mitch was the most powerful hurricane and the most destructive of the 1998 Atlantic hurricane season, with maximum sustained winds of 180 mph . The storm was the thirteenth tropical storm, ninth hurricane, and third major hurricane of the season. Along with Hurricane Georges, Mitch...
in Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
from the ground. At the beginning of 2000 Stimeder quit his job and went to New York to work at German weekly New Yorker Staats-Zeitung and later on as a free lance journalist.
During his first stint in New York Stimeder learned about the "Code of ethics“ of the New York Times and the work of her fact-checking-departments, which made a lasting impression on him. On the basis of these experiences he later wrote the first-ever "Code of ethics“ for a publication in Austria.
After Stimeder had returned to his native country in late 2000 he started out as a permanent contributor to the metro department at city weekly Falter
Falter
Falter is a weekly magazine published in Vienna, Austria.Founded in 1977, it is published weekly on Wednesdays. Since Spring 2005 a local edition has also been published in Styria. The magazine reports from a broadly left-liberal perspective on politics, media, culture and the life...
and the news-website DerStandard.at. During his spells there he continued to cover conflicts and/or their aftermaths all over the world (between 1998 and 2003 i.e. he covered the wars in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
and Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
as well as the conflicts in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and the Palestinian territories
Palestinian territories
The Palestinian territories comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the region is today recognized by three-quarters of the world's countries as the State of Palestine or simply Palestine, although this status is not recognized by the...
and Sierra leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
from the ground for magazines, newspapers and agencys in mainly German-speaking countries.
After having completed an internship at the metro section of Berlin daily Tagesspiegel in the summer of 2002 he returned to "Format" as a staff reporter. During his second spell at the magazine an interview done by him and his colleague Stefan Kaltenbrunner with Salam Abdulmunem aka „Baghdad blogger“ Salam Pax
Salam Pax
Salam Pax is the pseudonym of Salam Abdulmunem , aka Salam al-Janabi , under which he became the "most famous blogger in the world" during and after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Along with a massive readership, his site "Where is Raed?" received notable media attention. The pseudonym consists of the...
made international headlines.
After the owner had decided to transform the news magazine into an economy mag and the division between editorial and commercial content was no longer adhered to, Stimeder left “Format“ to become a staffer at the sports desk of daily “Der Standard“, where he specialised in covering domestic and foreign soccer.
At the end of 2003, while still working at “Der Standard“, Stimeder got acquainted with London-based financial consultant Johannes Weyringer, together with whom he decided to found a new monthly that was based on the editorial concepts of The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
and the German weeklys Die Zeit
Die Zeit
Die Zeit is a German nationwide weekly newspaper that is highly respected for its quality journalism.With a circulation of 488,036 and an estimated readership of slightly above 2 million, it is the most widely read German weekly newspaper...
and “Süddeutsche Zeitung
Süddeutsche Zeitung
The Süddeutsche Zeitung , published in Munich, is the largest German national subscription daily newspaper.-Profile:The title literally translates as "South German Newspaper". It is read throughout Germany by 1.1 million readers daily and boasts a relatively high circulation abroad...
Magazin“. The first issue of “DATUM – Seiten der Zeit“ was presented to a selected audience in downtown Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
in May 2004.
As acting publisher and editor Stimeder was able to win over internationally renowned artists, authors, politicians and scientists as contributors to the magazine, i.e. artist and painter Günter Brus, EU commissioner Johannes Hahn
Johannes Hahn
Johannes Hahn, born on the 2 December 1957, is an Austrian politician and that country's member of the second Barroso Commission. He replaced as Austria's representative Benita Ferrero-Waldner. Hahn is a member of the Österreichische Volkspartei and the European People's Party...
, actor Karl Markovics
Karl Markovics
Karl Markovics is an Austrian actor and film director.He starred as Salomon Sorowitsch in Stefan Ruzowitzky's 2007 film The Counterfeiters, which was awarded the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for that year...
, philosopher Franz Schuh
Franz Schuh (writer)
Franz Schuh is an Austrian novelist, literary critic and, above all, essayist in the tradition of Karl Kraus and Alfred Polgar. Schuh was born, and lives, in Vienna, where, just like his predecessors, he prefers to write in one of the traditional coffeehouses.- Select bibliography :* Liebe, Macht...
and quantum physicist Anton Zeilinger
Anton Zeilinger
Anton Zeilinger is an Austrian quantum physicist. He is currently professor of physics at the University of Vienna, previously University of Innsbruck. He is also the director of the Vienna branch of the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information IQOQI at the Austrian Academy of Sciences...
.
Since its founding DATUM under Stimeder's publisher- and editorship won numerous international and national awards for its design as well as for its content. It was hailed as “International best news magazine“ by Monocle
Monocle (2007 magazine)
Monocle is a lifestyle magazine and website founded by Tyler Brûlé, a Canadian journalist and entrepreneur. Described by CBC News reporter Harry Forestell as a "meeting between Foreign Policy and Vanity Fair", the magazine provides a globalist perspective on issues as fashion, international...
and Wallpaper-founder Tyler Brûlé
Tyler Brûlé
Tyler Brûlé is a Canadian journalist, entrepreneur, and magazine publisher. He is the editor-in-chief of Monocle and a columnist for the Weekend FT.-Early years:...
in his “Fast lane“-column in the Financial Times
Financial Times
The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....
in 2005.In 2009 DATUM was named one of the “100 most innovative magazines in the world“ by members of a jury of Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
-based magazine symposium “Colophon“.
In October 2008 Stimeder published the biography “Trotzdem. Die Oscar Bronner Story“ (Ueberreuter
Ueberreuter
Ueberreuther is an Austrian publishing house. Founded as Verlag Carl Ueberreuter in 1946 by Thomas F. Salzer , today the company is Austria's biggest publisher of non-fiction literature.- External links :...
), a work he coauthored with award-winning journalist Eva Weissenberger. “Trotzdem“ covers the life of legendary Austro-Jewish publisher and artist (Bronner founded Austrian news magazine Profil
Profil (magazine)
profil is an Austrian news magazine. It was founded in 1970 by Oscar Bronner, who also founded the magazine Trend and the daily newspaper Der Standard....
, economy magazine “trend“, daily “Der Standard“ and the news website “derStandard.at“. While sales remained modest, the book received great critical acclaim in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and the US, where it was presented in May 2009 at the Austrian Cultural Forum New York
Austrian Cultural Forum New York
The Austrian Cultural Forum New York is one of Austria’s two cultural representation offices in the United States...
by American journalism legend Carl Bernstein
Carl Bernstein
Carl Bernstein is an American investigative journalist who, at The Washington Post, teamed up with Bob Woodward; the two did the majority of the most important news reporting on the Watergate scandal. These scandals led to numerous government investigations, the indictment of a vast number of...
and bestselling writer Frederic Morton
Frederic Morton
Frederic Morton is a Jewish Austrian writer who emigrated to the United States in 1940.Born Fritz Mandelbaum in Vienna, Morton was raised as the son of a blacksmith who had specialised in forging imperial medals. In the wake of the Anschluss of 1938 his father was arrested but later released again...
.
Since 2000 Stimeder has served as a guest lecturer at various universities, colleges and schools in Austria, Germany and the US (i.e. at the Department for Journalism and Media Management at Vienna College of Higher Education, at the Institute for Communication Sciences at Vienna University, at the German department of Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
and at the annual conferences of the German Studies Association
German Studies Association
The German Studies Association is an international organization of scholars in history, literature, economics, culture studies, and political science who study Germany, Austria, and Switzerland...
).
For his work with young journalists and aspiring writers at DATUM Stimeder was named “head of the best school for young writers in the country“ by Austrian journalism magazine “The journalist“ in 2008.
As publisher of DATUM by cooperating with Viennas' Rabenhof Theater from 2007 to 2009 Stimeder coinitiated a series of literary events (“DATUM presents“) during which’s course writers like Chuck Palahniuk
Chuck Palahniuk
Charles Michael "Chuck" Palahniuk is an American transgressional fiction novelist and freelance journalist. He is best known for the award-winning novel Fight Club, which was later made into a film directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter...
, Ian Rankin
Ian Rankin
Ian Rankin, OBE, DL , is a Scottish crime writer. His best known books are the Inspector Rebus novels. He has also written several pieces of literary criticism.-Background:He attended Beath High School, Cowdenbeath...
, Sven Regener
Sven Regener
Sven Regener, born January 1, 1961 in Bremen, is a German musician and writer living in Berlin. In 1982 he recorded his first LP with the band Zatopek and in 1984 he joined Neue Liebe. In 1985 he founded the Berlin band Element of Crime together with Jakob Friderichs. He writes almost all their...
, Juli Zeh
Juli Zeh
Juli Zeh is a German novelist.Her first book was Adler und Engel , which won the 2002 Deutscher Bücherpreis for best debut novel. She traveled through Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2001, which became the basis for the book Die Stille ist ein Geräusch...
, FM Einheit of Einstürzende Neubauten
Einstürzende Neubauten
Einstürzende Neubauten is a German post-industrial band, originally from West Berlin, formed in 1980. The group currently comprises Blixa Bargeld , Alexander Hacke , N.U...
, Thomas Brussig
Thomas Brussig
Thomas Brussig is a German writer best known for his satirical novels that deal with the German Democratic Republic.- Life :...
or Robert Menasse
Robert Menasse
Robert Menasse is an Austrian writer.As an undergraduate, Menasse studied in Vienna, Salzburg and Messina. In 1980 he completed his PhD thesis "Der Typus des Außenseiters im Literaturbetrieb...
took to the stage to do public readings. In 2007 Stimeder was a member of the jury of the Marlen Haushofer
Marlen Haushofer
Marlen Haushofer née Marie Helene Frauendorfer was an Austrian author, most famous for her only novel translated into English, The Wall. Haushofer was born in Frauenstein in Upper Austria. She attended Catholic boarding school in Linz, and went on to study German literature in Vienna, as well as...
-Preis, a prize which is given out to young writers by the Austrian city of Steyr.
In the summer of 2010 Stimeder sold his shares in DATUM to his partner and moved to New York City, where he now lives and works as a freelance journalist and as a writer of fiction and non-fiction under the name JM Stim.
Publications
- Trotzdem. Die Oscar-Bronner-Story (mit Eva Weissenberger), Ueberreuter, Vienna, 2008, ISBN 3800038889
- The Original Kings Of Comedy, in: Andreas Ungerböck und Gunnar Landsgesell (Hg.): Spike Lee. Bertz + Fischer, Vienna, 2006, ISBN 392947087X
- Pushing an elephant up the stairs, in: Christl, Reinhard: Wie werde ich Journalist/in? Wege in den Traumberuf, LIT, Vienna, 2007, ISBN 3825804666